1. Field
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a wiper blade apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a flat-blade type wiper apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A blade assembly for cleaning a windshield of a vehicle is an active safety device, as well as device that provides user convenience, which is installed to ensure a driver's view by removing foreign substances or rain drops on a glass surface of the windshield.
Generally, the blade assembly for cleaning the windshield slides on and contacts the vehicle. The blade assembly for cleaning the windshield includes a wiper strip that slides on and contacts the windshield and has rubber elasticity, a vertebra that elastically supports the wiper strip, and a retainer and a coupling apparatus as a coupling assembly for firmly fixing the wiper strip to a wiper arm. Generally, the retainer has a tournament structure, so as to accommodate a deviation in contact between a wiper strip and the windshield, according to a difference in curvature of the windshield between the wiper strip and the retainer. The tournament structure may include a space between the wiper strip and the retainer. Recently, as roads have been improved for high-speed driving, and the performance of a vehicle has been enhanced, a problem of a conventional blade assembly to clean the windshield has been raised. That is, when a wiper apparatus operates while a vehicle is moving at a high speed of 160 km or more, a lift may be exerted on the blade assembly for cleaning the windshield, and the blade assembly for cleaning the windshield may not properly contact the windshield. Thus, the wiper apparatus may not properly wipe the windshield. In order to solve such a problem, there is a need to develop a new blade assembly for cleaning the windshield that does not include a retainer structure.
Recently, a wiper apparatus, referred to as a “flat-blade type wiper apparatus”, has drawn attention for preventing floating of a wiper while a vehicle is moving at a high speed.
In the case of the flat-blade type wiper apparatus, a vertebra that supports a wiper lip is formed of a spoiler-integrated lever, and a connector apparatus for connecting a wiper arm to the wiper apparatus is disposed at a center of the vertebra. Korean Patent Publication No. 2011-0074552 discloses an example of the flat-blade type wiper apparatus.
A flat-blade type wiper apparatus generally includes a wiper apparatus and a vertebra, which are coupled to the spoiler-integrated lever. Then, a cover, referred to as an end cap, is installed at both ends of the wiper lip, so that the wiper lip does not slide and detach from the spoiler-integrated lever. The end cap also functions to improve an appearance of the flat-blade type wiper apparatus. However, since a conventional end cap is not directly clipped or fixed to the wiper lip, it may be difficult to replace the wiper lip, or the wiper lip may slip in a direction of a length of the wiper lip, and thus, the wiping performance of the wiper apparatus may deteriorate.
The present invention solves such a problem. The present invention provides a flat-blade type wiper apparatus having an improved end cap structure, so that the wiper lip is effectively supported and firmly coupled to a vertebra. Thus, while the wiper apparatus is operating, the wiper lip may not slip and may be easily replaced.